Swiss Holiday!

Although I declared to myself and to most of you that I was D-O-N-E, done with travel until at least Christmas, I changed my mind (perhaps unsurprisingly) due to an amazing alignment of the stars (i.e Carys and my schedules suddenly coinciding with a free weekend and decent airfare prices) and went to Switzerland over the first weekend in November to visit my dear friend and former roomate in Tokyo, Carys.

It seems to me that a sign that you see someone as a vital part of your life - is one that you have a hard time to remember your life before you met them. Carys is one of those people for me. We shared so much in Japan, and though we haven't seen each other since our meet up in the UK almost exactly a year ago - our connection remains strong. Strangely, from the moment we saw each other we both thought, wow its been a year? But neither of us felt the distance that a year often seems like when meeting up with old friends.

While in Zurich I also got to see Cary's friend Dan (Daniela) who stayed with us for a few weeks in Japan. The three of us had a great trip to Nara (near Kyoto) together during my second year in Japan. Here is a pic of the 3 of us, seems like far away and like yesterday at the same time oddly....
















The night we met up with Dan was great. There was an annual event where several big boats dock in the harbor of the lake in Zurich and for a small fee (about $10) you can go on any of the 4-5 boats and do wine tasting. In Swiss fashion we had fondue for dinner first and then wandered around the boats to taste wines from all over the world, though we focused on European wines. A golden nugget of new information I found out was that I love Ripasso reds from Italy - good stuff.

At the end of the night we all got on the same tram home. Here is a pic of Carys an I. We felt tired at the time but ended up at her house chatting until about 4 am! We had a lot to catch up on...
















On Sunday we got up late, had a lazy day and then took a long walk down to the center of Zurich to get some exercise, chat, and pick up a few things at the grocery store at the main station. It was the same in Geneva 2 years ago but I had forgotten this Swiss phenomenon of EVERYTHING being closed on Sundays except some shops at the main station. Although it was an overcast weekend in Zurich it was the perfect evening for a stroll. I like this view of the city over the river...















Here is me looking mmm not sure, startled? Surprised? Light hearted? Not sure but in anycase a bit strange. Nonetheless the view remains a good one ;-)















On Monday I had a few hours to spare before heading off to the airport. I took advantage of the first rays of sun since I arrived there on Friday to walk about the town on my own. Its something I should do more in Copenhagen and Malmo but just always seem to forget in the daily hustle-bustle and ticking off tasks on my to-do-list. Zurich and Copenhagen have a lot of similarities - the big difference though is that Copenhagen is flat while Zurich has some hills even in the city, kind of like San Francisco. This street is a nice example.